As we in the Mid-Atlantic dig out from the weekend's snow storm and await the Tuesday arrival of the next winter storm, some of us no doubt have wondered how, if all this snow were melted down to liquid, how many Olympic sized pools could be filled? Or how many Empire State Buildings?

Actually, during all the hours of shoveling, I never once asked myself these questions, probably because it might have made me throw my shovel back in the garage.

But someone did ask these questions, and the answers make for some fun snow facts.

The Associated Press reports:

The region had nearly 3 feet of snow in some areas. One scientist said if all the snow that fell on the East Coast were melted, it would fill 12 million Olympic swimming pools or 30,000 Empire State buildings. Philadelphia and Washington each need just a little more than nine inches to give the cities their snowiest winters since 1884, the first year records were kept.